Children's Home run by Continuum Support - Care Services Limited in Warrington

Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 1 Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to one child who may have social and emotional difficulties. One child is currently being cared for.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 29 November 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2022 Full Good 19/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved on from this home. Managers and staff working at the home create a warm, fun and nurturing environment for any child who lives there. Managers and staff are invested in each child and place them at the centre of their practice. They are committed and will go above and beyond to ensure that the child experiences a sense of permanence and belonging. Events are celebrated throughout the year and are approached with creativity. The child said, ‘I feel safe, loved and cared for.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff make sure that the child’s views, wishes and feelings are heard and acted on where possible. One child created a presentation for the manager to convince her that they could care for a pet cat at the home. Managers and staff welcomed the child’s creative way of expressing their views, and as a result, the child was given a kitten for their birthday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff are ambitious for all children who live at the home. The manager has challenged decisions in relation to individual children’s education provision. When different children have faced challenges in school, their barriers to learning have been understood by the staff team, with individual support plans put in place. There has been effective challenge and liaison with social care and virtual school heads. The manager is advocating for the child, who is currently attending school part time, to return to full-time education as soon as possible. Educational activities such as swimming and home learning are put in place to support their current part-time timetable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Clear routines and boundaries are in place for the child. The child is supported to understand when their behaviour has not been acceptable. Consequences that have been used have been proportionate. This increases the child’s sense of personal responsibility. Managers ensure that the child and staff discuss any incidents so that relationships are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff understand who is important to the child. Any barriers, such as family living abroad, are managed creatively. Occasions are celebrated and shared online. This helps the child to maintain relationships that are important to them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The child has detailed risk and behaviour support plans. These set out what the risks are and what staff need to do to support the child to be safe. These are completed with the child, social workers, independent reviewing officers, health professionals and education professionals.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities. Any child who has been missing from the home has been supported to return quickly and safely. If children do go missing Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 4 from the home, staff actively complete area searches, go to known addresses and follow the missing-from-home protocol to ensure that there is a well-coordinated response. Missing-from-home incidents for one child have reduced.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Managers and staff support the individual needs of each child effectively. Staff understand child sexual exploitation and have plans in place to support the child. The child is supported to understand how to keep themselves safe. Managers and staff have collaborated with partner agencies such as social care, the police and contextual safeguarding to ensure that plans are effective. Managers and staff have recognised when risks have continued for individual children, despite intervention. When it has not been possible for a child to remain at the home, there has been highly effective planning so that a specialist provision was identified to support a positive transition for the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When a child has made disclosures about past harm, they have been sensitively supported. Safeguarding processes have been followed and acted on. If a child has felt unable to speak with police and social care, they have been sensitively supported by staff to write their experiences down to support any future actions.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff recognise that all children need to feel safe and secure. A child who is new to the home was using an e-cigarette. A proactive response from the staff team meant that the child disposed of the e-cigarette and is no longer using one. The child said they are proud of their decision to stop using it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably qualified and experienced manager leads the home. Since the last inspection, three staff have left and three new staff have been recruited. New staff are supported to understand their role through a clear and detailed induction. The staff team has completed mandatory and specialist training so that it has the necessary skills to care for each child who has lived at the home since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably qualified team leader supports the registered manager. They complement each other and have created an environment that is child-focused and a learning environment for staff. They lead by example and have created an atmosphere of praise, nurture and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong commitment to ensuring that all children who live at the home make progress. The manager and staff have high expectations and aspirations for each child to succeed. The manager has weekly monitoring systems in place so that she can review the quality of care provided by the staff team to the child. This is used to identify areas of development and improvements in practice through regular reflective team meetings and supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Lessons-learned reviews have been completed in team meetings when each child has moved on from the home. This allows for managers and staff to reflect on, analyse and identify strengths and areas for development. This has led to changes being Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 5 made to internal admissions processes to ensure that child-centred decisions are made and that the staff have the necessary skills to care for each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has provided a review of the quality of care report. However, the report is not clear in how they have considered the views of children and key stakeholders or any actions required to improve the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they enjoy working at the home, consider it to be a family environment and that staff morale is high. Staff are supported and encouraged to make decisions as a team. This creates a sense of shared ownership. The home is maintained to a high standard and is suitable for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have mostly been met. One recommendation has been restated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. The registered person should ensure they clearly record how they have considered the views of key stakeholders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Continuum Support - Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St. Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspector

Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2593623 8 regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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